VF Lift or Time Freeze Laser LCLR® for a sagging face: lost support, or unwanted volume?
Medically reviewed by Dr Sin Yong · Last reviewed · 8 min read
Published 10 October 2026 · Reviewed by Dr Sin Yong
A sagging face and jowls are the concern Dr Sin Yong sees most, and the two protocols he developed for it answer different questions. VF Lift – Vertical Facelift treats a face that has lost support: the tissue has descended and needs lifting along vertical vectors. Time Freeze Laser LCLR® treats a face that is carrying something it should not: excess volume, or earlier Sculptra or Ellansé that has over-stimulated an area. Many faces have both problems, which is why many plans use both.
Short answerVF Lift – Vertical Facelift leads when the face has lost support and needs lifting: monopolar radiofrequency on CLASSYS Volnewmer applied along vertical vectors. Time Freeze Laser LCLR® leads when unwanted volume or earlier biostimulator over-stimulation is part of the picture; it is built to target those areas and take away the excess. The assessment decides which leads, and whether both are used.
Monopolar RF, 6.78 MHz, CLASSYS Volnewmer, along vertical vectors; no focused ultrasound
Time Freeze Laser LCLR®
Dr Sin Yong’s dual-wavelength laser lifting protocol; built to target over-stimulated areas and take away the excess
Pick VF Lift when
Jowls and folds come from descent: the tissue is where it was, lower
Pick Time Freeze when
The lower face is heavy or lumpy with volume that was added or over-stimulated
Both when
Descent and excess coexist, which is usual after years of filler
Neither alone when
Marked skin excess and platysma banding: surgical facelift is discussed
Two different reasons a face sags
A jowl can form because the support under it has weakened and the fat pad has slid down, or because there is more in the lower face than there used to be: filler added over the years, or a biostimulator that produced more collagen than intended. From the front both look like a heavy lower face. From the side, and under the fingers, they are different, and treating one as if it were the other is how faces end up tighter but still heavy.
Descent is treated by lifting; excess is treated by taking it away. Schematic, not to scale.
VF Lift: lifting lost support
VF Lift – Vertical Facelift applies monopolar radiofrequency on the CLASSYS Volnewmer platform along vertical vectors, so that the heating pattern encourages the tissue to sit higher rather than simply contract. Volnewmer runs at 6.78 MHz, the same frequency as Thermage FLX; in a randomised split-face trial in 22 Asian women the two gave comparable lifting, skin volume and wrinkle results in that trial, with less pain reported on Volnewmer (Roh, Ann Dermatol 2025). The protocol does not use focused ultrasound. Full page: VF Lift – Vertical Facelift.
Lifting is for a face that has lost support; it does not remove what has been added.
Time Freeze Laser LCLR®: taking away the excess
Time Freeze Laser LCLR® is Dr Sin Yong’s dual-wavelength laser lifting protocol. Together with VF Lift it is built to target areas over-stimulated by Sculptra or Ellansé and take away the excess; not every laser can do this. It is the protocol he uses where the lower face is heavy because something was added rather than because something gave way, and where a hyaluronidase injection has nothing to act on because the product was never hyaluronic acid. Full page: Time Freeze Laser LCLR®.
VF Lift and Time Freeze Laser LCLR® side by side
VF Lift – Vertical Facelift
Time Freeze Laser LCLR®
The problem it answers
Descent: lost support
Excess: added or over-stimulated volume
Energy
Monopolar RF 6.78 MHz (Volnewmer)
Dual-wavelength laser
Typical zones
Jawline, mid-face, brow, neck
Heavy lower-face pads, over-filled cheeks, areas of biostimulator over-response
What it cannot do
Remove volume that was added
Lift a face that has simply dropped
Assessment
Pinch and lift tests, layer-by-layer
History of every injectable, ultrasound where needed
Combined
Yes, commonly; order set at consultation
Yes; usually first when excess is dominant
How Dr Sin Yong decides
He takes the injectable history first: what was placed, where, when, and whether any of it was a biostimulator. Then he examines in three positions: at rest, smiling, and with the tissue lifted by a fingertip. If lifting restores the contour, the problem is descent and VF Lift leads. If lifting leaves a heavy pad in place, the problem is excess and Time Freeze Laser LCLR® leads. Many faces over 50 with a filler history are planned with both, and the usual order is to take away the excess first, then lift what remains, because lifting a heavy pad only moves the heaviness. Ultrasound settles any doubt about what the pad contains. Related: pillow face, jowls.
Risks and what to expect
VF Lift: deep warmth, transient redness and tenderness; rare burns or surface irregularity, reduced by water cooling and by conservative settings over thin skin. Time Freeze Laser LCLR®: warmth, redness and some swelling for days; post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation is the main risk in darker skin, managed by test settings and sun avoidance. Neither replaces a surgical facelift where skin excess is marked, and Dr Sin Yong says so when that is the case.
Fee factors
Which protocol leads, whether both are planned, the zones involved and the number of sessions the examination suggests. Fees are set out in writing after assessment; prices are not published, in line with Singapore’s healthcare advertising rules. How fees are quoted.
Your next step
1. MessageWhatsApp +65 8023 7170 with what is bothering you. A reply comes from the clinic, not a bot.
2. AssessmentDr Sin Yong examines you himself at Wheelock Place, with ultrasound where earlier filler is involved.
3. A plan in writingWhat he would do, what he would not, the fee factors, and the option of no treatment.
Every treatment is performed by Dr Sin Yong personally. Singapore Medical Council registered · invited to share his clinical expertise internationally as a Key Opinion Leader for CLASSYS, DEKA, Fotona, HIRONIC and ILOODA · HSA-registered devices · ultrasound-guided correction
It depends on what the jowl is made of. A jowl from descent is lifted with VF Lift – Vertical Facelift. A jowl that is heavy because filler or a biostimulator added to it is treated with Time Freeze Laser LCLR®, which is built to target the excess and take it away. Many jowls need both.
Yes. That is one of the things it was built for: together with VF Lift it targets areas over-stimulated by Sculptra or Ellansé and takes away the excess. Hyaluronidase does not work on these products.
No. VF Lift – Vertical Facelift is monopolar radiofrequency on the CLASSYS Volnewmer platform. It does not use focused ultrasound.
Usually Time Freeze Laser LCLR® first, to take away the excess, then VF Lift to lift what remains. Lifting a heavy pad only relocates the heaviness.
Where skin excess is marked or the neck bands are strong, yes, and Dr Sin Yong says so at the assessment rather than treating around it.
References
Roh H, Lee YI, et al. Monopolar radiofrequency with water cooling versus cryogen cooling: a prospective randomised split-face trial in 22 Asian women. Ann Dermatol. 2025;37(6):397-407. doi:10.5021/ad.25.166. source
US FDA 510(k) summary K240248 — Volnewmer (CLASSYS), 2024: monopolar RF, 6.78 MHz; indication: electrocoagulation and haemostasis of soft tissue; predicate Thermage FLX. source
US FDA 510(k) summary K170758 — Thermage FLX (Solta Medical), 2017: 6.78 MHz; indications include non-invasive treatment of wrinkles and periorbital wrinkles. source
Lemperle G, Gauthier-Hazan N. Foreign body granulomas after all injectable dermal fillers: part 2. Treatment options. Plast Reconstr Surg. 2009;123(6):1864-1873. doi:10.1097/PRS.0b013e3181858f4f. source
Wollina U, Goldman A. Spontaneous and induced degradation of dermal fillers: a review. J Cutan Aesthet Surg. 2024;17(4):273-281. doi:10.4103/JCAS.JCAS_137_23. source
